Huge Winter Storm to Dump Snow, Ice From Texas to New York

(Bloomberg) -- The season’s largest winter storm will bring record-breaking cold starting Friday as it sweeps across Texas before roaring up the US East Coast to New York and Boston.

More than 175 million people across the country will face snow, rain, sleet and ice through the weekend. Some 230 million will shiver through temperatures of 20F (-7C) degrees or lower, said Brian Hurley, a senior branch forecaster at the US Weather Prediction Center. 

A winter-storm watch stretches more than 1,100 miles (1,770 kilometers) from New Mexico east through Tennessee and Alabama, according to the National Weather Service. Winter-weather advisories and storm warnings reach from North Dakota through the Great Lakes into western New York. At least 222 daily records for cold may be tied or broken through next Tuesday. 

Air travel is expected to be snarled, and the extreme cold brings the threat of power outages, especially in Texas, where the state’s grid will once again be tested. Possible blackouts would lead to dangerous conditions since many residents rely on electricity for heat. The storm is forecast to sweep across at least five major US grids, including the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and the nation’s largest grid PJM Interconnection. 

The storm threatens as much as 60 hours of below-freezing temperatures across large parts of Texas, Hurley said. Cold will arrive Friday, including in the oil-rich Permian Basin, before rain, snow and ice spread across the state through the weekend. The conditions bring the threat of disruptions to natural gas production.

Energy demand is likely to rise over the next two weeks as the cold settles in, according to BloombergNEF. 

Abilene, Texas, is forecast to drop to 12F Friday night, and then stay below the freezing mark of 32F through at least Sunday, the National Weather Service said. Midland will fall to 13F Friday night, with a high of 19F on Saturday and low of 9F later in the day.

“The great state of Texas is going to see it all,” Hurley said. “Snow in the north, rain in the south and everything in between.”

The storm will then bring snow and ice throughout the South and Mid-Atlantic, raising the risk of widespread power outages and tying up air travel across the US. Southern airports typically have less de-icing equipment, which can lead to delays that cascade throughout the system. 

Atlanta, a major airline hub, has a 50% chance of getting at least a quarter inch of ice Saturday. As the storm moves north Sunday, delays and cancellations have a good chance to spread into New York and the Northeast.

“It is going to be a big problem,” Hurley said. “It would be tough if you were leaving on Sunday.”

Meanwhile, the chance New York City and Boston will get snow on Sunday is also rising, he said. Computer forecast models have been bringing the storm farther north with every new run.

(Updates with storm’s impact in second paragraph, details throughout.)

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